Musical toys can certainly become irritating after a while, either playing the same monotones electronic tune over and over again, usually not being allowed even to play the fully ditty, but restarting the first bar over and over again as your darling little one keeps pressing that exciting button. The alternative is that the delightful chorus is being composed and performed by none other than your own dear sweetheart of a cherub. It was so kind of his aunt to buy him that drum set for Christmas wasn't it?

The problem is, though, that music, and musical toys, are very important to the development of a child. Music has so many beneficial factors, and many more that we can only hint at but cannot yet define why they have such an effect. As a case in point, there have been many studies lately which demonstrate that listening to Mozart for an hour or so before sitting a test or exam will actually improve your analytical and logical skills, improving performances in maths and science subjects. Quite why this is so is hard to say. Some argue that a spark of the genius of Mozart is carried in the notes, almost like a code that reaches straight into our brain and wakes it up; others suggest that it is merely the process of relaxing to music that calms the mind and allows us to approach analytical tasks more calmly and rationally. Who can, say? But no matter which camp you feel yourself in, it is certainly not possible to question the validity of the results.

As a small child, music has an immediate effect. Most children love dancing to music, even if they have never seen anyone else do it. Moving to the rhythm, albeit in their own interpretation of rhythm, babies and toddlers will rock, clap or stomp away to a tune, almost as though compelled. This certainly is fascinating, as there is no other creature that responds to music in the same way.

As well as listening to music, playing it themselves is also something which, if nothing else, makes small children very happy. They have no other real voice, as they can't speak, or at least not in a way that gets their message across, but by bashing out notes or beats they can become vocal, in their own way, and this is important as a way of allowing the child to express themselves, and identify themselves as an individual.

The rhythm and beats of music are definitely mathematical in nature, and this can certainly help to stimulate a child's brain and allow them to think in beats, rhythms, groups of notes and when they start to learn to count, walk, run and play games, a sense of rhythm, and a sense of logic are all critically important. Who knows just how much benefit music is to a growing child? Just don't be too quick to blame his auntie. She just might have tapped in to his genius.